If there’s one thing that gets offered more times than not, it’s the extended warranty on a product. Usually if you go out to purchase a TV, computer, or other gadget, you’re going to end up being offered a warranty to protect the item longer than the manufacturer’s warranty. However, are all warranties created equal? Not a chance. The good warranties have good customer service and fast repair, but if you’re caught with a warranty policy that’s just about useless, it’s pretty much money down the drain.

So, when is it a good idea to buy the extended warranty? When you know that replacing the item at any time could be a strain on your finances. A warranty is like insurance — you really don’t want to have to use it. Using a warranty means that you have a product that isn’t working. Unfortunately, it’s hard to point out the exact time that a product is going to stop working, and even if you have the warranty you’re going to end up having to be without the products you love while they’re being repaired out replaced outright.

Keep in mind that the manufacturer’s warranty is normally 1 year for just about everything and 90 days for labor. That means if something breaks down, you can get it fixed in the early stages. Usually after a year, technology marches on to the point where you will pretty much want to get a new device anyway. This is very much the case with cell phones that seem to constantly come out around the clock.

We’re not against warranties at all, but you do want to make sure that you look at how much they’re going to cost. If the salesperson is a bit misleading about the price, that’s something that you will want to avoid strongly. Let’s say that you decide to opt out of the extended warranty at the store. You can get an extended warranty from third party sources on the Internet. This way if you change your mind down the road you can be protected already. The price definitely varies, so you will want to definitely make sure that you comparison shop accordingly.

You have more options than you might expect when it comes to an extended warranty, so make sure that you definitely start looking into it as soon as possible — why not get started today?